A Collection of Curricula for the STARLAB African Mythology Cylinder Including: A Look at the African Mythology Cylinder African Mythology Map African Skies by Kevin Cuff & Alan Gould of the Lawrence Hall of Science ©2008 by Science First/STARLAB, 95 Botsford Place, Buffalo, NY 14216. www.starlab.com. All rights reserved. Curriculum Guide Contents A Look at the African Mythology Cylinder .................3 African Mythology Map ..........................................7 Orion or Osiris ................................................3 African Skies ..........................................................8 Orion’s Belt .....................................................3 The Southern Skies ............................................9 Other Orion Stars ..............................................3 The Southern Skies Blank Star Map ..................11 Sirius ...............................................................3 Find Isilimela and Naka ...................................12 Canopus .........................................................4 Sunwatching All Year .......................................14 Taurus ..............................................................4 African Constellations Star Map ........................16 Castor, Pollux and Procyon .................................4 Star Map of African Constellations ....................18 The Pleiades .....................................................4 What Does Your Village Call It? ........................19 The Milky Way .................................................4 Curriculum References for African Skies .............27 The Big Dipper ..................................................4 Polaris, the North Star ........................................5 The Southern Cross ............................................5 Sun and Moon .................................................5 Other Stars .......................................................5 Sources .................................................................6 A Look at the African Mythology Cylinder Orion or Osiris When a Pharaoh died, his soul was judged by Osiris, the Egyptian Lord of Every- thing. A good life was rewarded by peaceful rest in the west, where the stars seemed to set at the end of their journey across the sky. A bad life was punished by sending the spirit to the north where it would never find rest, but be forced to eternally circle about the North Star with the other beasts. Orion’s Belt These 3 stars represent a staircase up to heaven to the Dogon. To the Bushmen, the 3 stars appear as 3 zebras (not depicted in this cylinder) — a male in the center flanked by 2 females. Other Orion Stars The stars near Orion’s feet and knees appeared as tortoises to the Bushmen (perhaps because they appear to move across the sky more slowly than the stars near Orion’s head and shoulders). Sirius Sirius is the Egyptian goddess Isis, companion to Osiris. When Isis began to rise in the east just before the sun, it meant that the waters of the Nile were about to rise, flooding was about to occur, and a new year was about to begin. This was also cru- cial information to the Dogon who lived near the Niger river, since it told them that a new agricultural cycle was underway and that it was time for planting. If seeds were planted too early, sprouts would come up too soon, before the rain. If the planting happened too late, the sprouts might not grow to maturity. To the Dogon, Sirius was one of the most important objects in the sky. It had 2 small heavy companion stars, one of which was called Po Tolo, or “deep beginning.” They believed that Amma, the creator god who made the sun and the moon, made 8 dif- ferent seeds. Po Tolo was the first and the smallest of these. The other stars were also seeds of different types of grain flung out by Amma into the heavens. To the Dinka, the stars are the night time cattle-fires of people who tended livestock on the plains. • African Mythology D-3 • Cylinder Guides Canopus The Basotho believed that the first person to see Canopus rise would be rewarded with a very prosperous year. Taurus To the Bushmen of the Kalahari desert, this constellation resembled a hartebeest. Castor, Pollux and Procyon Represented grazing elands to the Bushmen. The Pleiades The Masai of East Africa saw the Pleiades above the horizon from September to mid- May. They knew that these 6 stars which stayed in a group like a herd of cattle, were visible during the rainy season. The Khoikhoi (Bushmen) referred to the Pleiades as the “rain stars.”(It is interesting to note that the Pleiades are so close to the Hyades, the rain stars of the ancient Greeks.) The Bantu saw the Pleiades in the shape of a plow. When the Pleiades rose just after sunset, it was time for digging, plowing and planting. The Taureg saw a flock of chickens when they looked at the Pleiades. The Milky Way According to Bushmen legend, the Milky Way was created when a girl threw wood ashes from a campfire into the sky to help a lost hunter find his way back to camp. She later created some of the brighter stars by throwing roots into the sky. According to the legend, the white stars are ready to eat, but the red stars are old roots that are no longer edible. To the Pokomo of East Africa, the Milky Way represents smoke from the campfires of the “ancient people.” The Big Dipper The Taureg saw a camel in the shape of the dipper. Others saw an elephant with its trunk extended. Cylinder Guides • African Mythology D-4 • Polaris, the North Star The people of Kemet in the Nile valley saw a Jackal at the North Star. Others saw the “original seed”or grain there. The Southern Cross The Basotho Bushmen saw a giraffe with outstretched neck. Other Bushmen saw a pride of lions, while the Zulu (Bantu) saw the Southern Cross as the Tree of Life. Sun and Moon Although not depicted on the cylinder, the sun was perceived as being dependable and predictable, and represented the better part of life. The moon was seen as con- stantly changing (because of its phases), unreliable and moody. Other Stars The Kalahari Bushmen saw the eyes of wild animals looking out from the darkness. The Dinka saw cattle-fires, and the Dogon saw different types of seeds (correspond- ing, perhaps, to the differing brightness of stars, and different ways they cluster together). • African Mythology D-5 • Cylinder Guides Sources Dr. Harriet Masembe, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA Eileen M. Starr, author of “Sub-Saharan African Astronomical Mythology”from The Planetarian, Vol. 19, No. 3, September 1990. Bill Walton & Mike Savage, authors of Stars Over Africa published by Educa- tion Development Center, 1967 and Strangers in the Sky, Education Develop- ment Center, 1969, Newton, MA. Anthony Browder, author of Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization published by Institute of Karmic Guidance, 1992.Washington, DC. April Whitt, author of “African Skies,”revised 3/4/93, The Adler Planetarium, Chicago. Keith Motley, Dean — African American Studies, Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Anne Pritchard, Oconee Regional Educational Service Academy, Sandersville, GA. Jim and Shirley Smith, Kensington House, Chickamauga, GA. Cylinder Guides • African Mythology D-6 • African Mythology Map This cylinder portrays constellations seen by a variety of African cultures including: • The Dogon from West Africa’s Republic of Mali • The Egyptians of the Nile Valley in northern Africa • The Masai from Kenya and Tanzania • The Bantu of Kenya, equatorial and southern Africa • The Bushmen of the Kalahari desert and southern Africa • The Zulu from Natal on the eastern coast of South Africa • African Mythology D-7 • Cylinder Guides Contributed African Skies by Kevin Cuff and Alan Gould from the Lawrence Hall of Science © 1996 by the Regents of the University of California Cylinder Guides • African Mythology D-8 • The Southern Skies Materials For the whole class Note • STARLAB Portable In these planetarium activities, text that is in italics is suggested “script” for Planetarium the teacher to use, but not intended to be read word for word. • Starfield Cylinder Objective • African Mythology To observe the sky as seen by various Southern African peoples who live in the Cylinder Earth’s southern hemisphere and see how it differs from that of the northern hemi- • arrow pointer sphere. • audio tape player/record- Skills er Cooperative learning • observing • listening • describing • audio tape of African Prerequisite music (check local music stores) Students must know how to use a star map such as those found in PASS Vol. 5, Con- stellations Tonight. It is best to do the Constellations Tonight program with them first. • (optional) extra red read- For young students, map orientation may not be possible, but simple drawing of star ing lights (see PASS Vol. patterns may be possible. For VERY young students, even drawing star patterns may 4, A Manual for Using not be possible, but still showing how the stars shift position as they travel south in Portable Planetariums) latitude, and the later parts of the lesson may still be of value. For each student Preparation & Procedure • A blank star map (sheet of paper with a pre-drawn • Set up the STARLAB dome and projector. Place the Starfield Cylinder on the circle and Northern, cylinder platform, and set the latitude so that it matches that of your location. The Eastern, Southern, and exact time is not important, but it is always effective to let your students see the Western horizons labeled, sky as they would see it the evening of the day of